This label doesn’t mean anything – it’s just marketing to mislead customers. Ignore it and look for other labels such as Soil Association Organic
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What we say
For eggs, minimum free-range standards mean many hens are kept in vast, multi-tiered sheds typically with 16,000 or more other birds, and few ever see daylight. Animals may still be routinely fed GM foods or antibiotics
EU regulation stipulates that for eggs to be termed ‘free range’, hens must have continuous daytime access to runs which are mainly covered with vegetation with a maximum stocking density of 9 hens per square metre of useable area.
However the these regulations are not enforced or monitored in the UK. Products labeled only as ‘Free Range’ in the UK don’t really mean anything
To ensure higher animal welfare standards it is best to pick organic produce. While all organic food meets free range requirements (and beyond), free range produce doesn’t have to be organic.
What they say
The promise of Free Range is really all in the consumers head. Free range does not guarantee open space with prancing lambs and clucking chickens in the way we might imagine.